He scored on his international debut in 1993 against Turkey, and was a member of the Dutch squad for four major tournaments: the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and 2000 and 2004 European Championships.

[6] There were no machines or tractors, so when the time came to extract the potatoes, his family tied a rope around Overmars' waist, connected it to a cart and made him run while they pulled the crop out.

[6] His father Ben described him as a "clumsy" child, whose main interest was playing football: "He used to come down 24 stairs to breakfast bouncing a ball on his head.

Several teams chose to combat Overmars' threat with heavy tackles; he detested this, adding, "I do not fall on purpose, but if they keep kicking, I would sometimes give something back in return.

"[13] Ajax finished the campaign third in the league; their form in the final few months was described as "maddening" by football writer David Winner, as they defeated eventual champions Feyenoord by five goals, but dropped points to "minnows like MVV Maastricht".

"[36] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger believed Overmars had his "best years ahead of him" and met his criteria of a player "used to the pressures of playing for a big club and everything that goes with it".

[33] He opined that Arsenal lost the Premier League at home the previous season – "we were maybe the best away team," and commented on their inability to play expansive football.

[40] His impact however waned in the subsequent months and so did Arsenal's form; a 3–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on 13 December 1997 meant the club dropped to fifth place.

"[45] Arsenal overtook Manchester United in April 1998, and won the league after beating Everton on 3 May 1998; Overmars scored two goals in the match.

[47]Overmars began the 1998–99 season for Arsenal in good form; scoring the opening goal in a 3–0 win against Manchester United, thus being named as the man of the match of the 1998 FA Charity Shield.

The team did not make it past the group stage, and in the decisive game against Dynamo Kyiv which they lost, Overmars was ruled out with an abdominal injury.

[52] His proposal was accepted by The Football Association (FA) and Arsenal went on to win the replayed match 2–1, where the opening goal was scored by Overmars.

[56] His performance was lauded by journalist Lynne Truss, who wrote in The Times, "Overmars was in top Jack Russell form, bounding after the ball and prepared to savage anybody who tried to take it away from him.

[65] After the Netherlands' exit at Euro 2000, Lazio and Barcelona were reportedly interested in signing Overmars; the latter club hastened their efforts once Joan Gaspart was elected as president.

[67] Gaspart travelled to London to open negotiations with Arsenal and eventually reached an agreement to sign Overmars and his teammate Emmanuel Petit for a combined fee of around £32 million in July 2000.

[72] His performance in the match started off well, then faded before coming back in the second half, opined Andrés Astruells in El Mundo Deportivo.

[73] Barcelona made an indifferent start to the 2000–01 season and by February 2001, journalist Sid Lowe commented it looked improbable that Lorenzo Serra Ferrer would remain as manager of the club.

"[76] In La Liga, Overmars scored the team's seventh goal in their 7–0 win against Athletic Bilbao in February 2001; his performance was rated four stars out of five by El Mundo Deportivo.

Lowe labelled him as "Barça's only decent player in recent weeks" and was surprised he started on the bench against Real Valladolid in June 2001.

His performance against Ciudad de Murcia earned him recognition in El Mundo Deportivo, who wrote "frequent injuries have prevented him from consolidating his [position] as indisputable".

[106] His performance, which saw him trouble defender George Ogăraru, earned him invitations from Dutch and German clubs to make his professional comeback.

[114] Against the Republic of Ireland in the round of 16, he took advantage of Terry Phelan's header intended for goalkeeper Packie Bonner and sprinted away to set up Dennis Bergkamp to score.

[116] His corner in the 76th minute was met by Aron Winter and levelled the scores at 2–2 for a brief period – a goal from Branco resolved the match in favour of Brazil.

[120] Sports writer Rob Hughes said the Netherlands draw against Scotland showed why "they sorely miss the speed and balance of Marc Overmars".

[citation needed] However, he resumed training and was declared fit for the Netherlands opening match against Czech Republic, where he started on the bench.

A diminutive footballer, Overmars in his prime was described as "the archetypal winger", whose speed, vision, two-footedness and dribbling ability meant he was able to get the better of most defenders and either score or assist goals.

[141][142] Former teammate Emmanuel Petit said his strength lay "... in pushing the ball beyond his marker and darting past him into space to deliver crosses".

[65][99] Football pundit Alan Hansen believed Overmars benefited from a "strange feature of the modern English game" – defenders backing off and allowing him to run until he was in a shooting position.

Hans de Vroome, chairman of Go Ahead Eagles, said he was "more than satisfied" with Overmars' arrival, adding, "The board needs someone with a solid football background.

[157] In reality, it was later revealed that he had suffered a cardiac arrest, and will need a year to recover as his heart presently is only able to pump blood at 30% efficiency.